Is there anyway to determine if a transmission will go into all gears if it is out of the car?

Yup, turn the output shaft, if in gear the flanges will turn and you will not be able to stop them when turning the output, like when your out of gear.

Will this work for all the gears?

Yes Sir-e

...................... But it won't tell you how it'll actually shift when the car's in motion. The Cap'n

It is a worthless test, unfortunately

The Cap'n is absolutly correct, it will not tell you if the synchro's are bad, etc.

But it will tell you if there is a scattered gear or broken shaft. But with another

person you could switch the trans in an hour or so, then test.

Then get your arse over here ... I got a couple of transaxles to swap out ! ...

When? I can then check my ever-expanding social calendar.

Actually, even a tranny that is hard to shift on the ground does not indicate a problem. Most often, when I rebuild a tranny it is hard to shift due to the tighter fit of the new parts.